Voidlight Rising (A Xianxia Cultivation Adventure)

If a small dog stands in your way during a heist, run. The big dog isn't far behind. -Liam DeRosier of the Sun City Thieves Guild

"Yoru's gonna be alright, right?" Xinya asked softly as the Watcher began to chase their guide away.

Lin didn't know how to answer. He wanted it to be the case. After all, without Yoru, they only had a vague description of how to get to their destination, and given that they'd only made it past so many Watchers thanks to Yoru's insane memory of his own palace, Lin held no illusions to their ability to survive this place without him. They might have had a better chance than the average looter, but that wouldn't mean much.

Then the screeching came. It was like the sound of a spirit bat's sonic attack, only a thousand times worse. Lin and Xinya both pressed their hands to their ears, only Xinya's protections weren't nearly enough. Blood began to drip from her nose, and Lin risked removing his own hands to cover her ears more completely.

When it ended, there was a shift in the air that Lin definitely felt, even if he couldn't explain it. Ultimately, it didn't matter anyway. He took Xinya's hand and continued running in the direction Yoru indicated. If that was north, then Lin figured he could get them to the wall, which was supposed to be even further north, and a bit to the east.

Then again, Lin wasn't sure if that was north at all. Directions meant very little in the Black City, where there was no sun to dictate east and west. Everyone just seemed to agree that the cliffs of Half-Moon Manor were in the north, and that the river ran roughly east to west along the toe of the cliffside. However, in the midst of the city, where buildings and darkness blocked all sight of the palace looming over everything, it was impossible to tell. Here, inside the palace itself, where there were no giant cliffs to mark direction within the twisting labyrinth of identical hallways and courtyards, Lin was less than confident that the direction Yoru indicated was actually north.

But staying still wasn't an option. They had to move.

The pair came upon a crossroads, four hallways that all intersected, with a door on their right, and a Watcher guarding the path straight ahead. Out of the corner of his eye, Lin spotted movement down the left path. Beady red eyes shone through the blackness, but he couldn't see a body amidst the shadows.

Making a split-second decision, Lin dragged Xinya down the right-hand pathway. Hissing trailed behind them, something which definitely sent adrenaline and qi coursing through both of them. Shapes of color and light passed, as Lin gave up on trying to register every object in his poor eyesight. If he just stayed away from the lights, which were probably Watchers, and continued forward, then they would stand a better chance than if he slowed even a small amount.

They turned and twisted through the maze, avoiding the Watchers, while the hissing grew louder behind them. At this point, Lin was sure that these creatures were the "serpents" that Yoru referred to, though he hadn't actually seen any scaley bodies, only the eyes, which were bad enough.

The serpents drove them deeper and deeper into the palace, and Lin had lost any idea as to where north was. All that mattered was running. Staying ahead of the serpents and out of the Watchers' light was by far the best way to keep them alive. Everything else could be figured out later.

The sound of metal clinking together caught Lin's attention, even in the chaos of their flight. It was the sound of chains, and there was only one source of that sound he'd seen so far in the palace. The only problem was a pair of beady eyes lurking down the hall from which he'd heard the sound.

A decision was made in an instant. Lin slowed just long enough to scoop Xinya into his arms before shifting his path. He knew just how fast snakes could be, and these were no ordinary ones. He also knew that if Shi Reili had a hand in their creation, then they were likely void spirits of some kind. Lin's adaptation had been exposed to the void of the Black City for months. He would just have to hope it was enough to protect him from whatever deadly technique was imparted in their vile bite.

He ran straight for the serpent. Once he was closer, he could finally see the creature for what it was: a snake made entirely of shadow. It blended almost seamlessly with its surroundings to the point where Lin could only see the change in qi density that marked where the snake was and where it was not.

The serpent coiled, opening its mouth to reveal fangs that dripped with void qi. Lin swerved, leaping onto one of the nearby side tables and sending a porcelain vase crashing to the ground. The beast struck, but Lin didn't feel it's bite. He kept running, jumping down on the far side of the creature and sprinting towards the sound of the chains clinking in the distance ahead.

"Yoru!" he shouted, throwing stealth to the wind. What did it matter if they were quiet if half the palace already knew they were there?

"Lin?" came the response, and Lin's heart soared.

He rounded a corner, sprinted down another hall, and rounded another corner before his left leg suddenly buckled beneath him. He stumbled, but was caught by strong, warm arms wrapped in shining lights.

"This way!" Yoru said, pulling them down a hall to the right. "We'll lose them at the Ministry of Sect Affairs! It's not far!"

That didn't mean anything to Lin, but he trusted in Yoru's judgment. He set Xinya down to run on her own, and together, they all ran.

Yoru was right that it wasn't far, which was a good thing because Lin could feel that he was losing feeling in his left foot. His steps became uneven, and he redirected the qi of his core to the leg in order to fight off the effects of the injury. Even as he did, he pushed through. Cultivators could heal through almost any injury, but doing so required them to be alive. Mitigate now, heal later. That was his only hope of survival, and he knew it.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After only a few minutes of running, the decorations lining the walls underwent a subtle change. Instead of random knick-knacks arranged along the halls, this new region of the palace was decorated with weapons and armor. Lin stared at them as they passed. Even if you rounded up every cultivator in the Moon-Soaked Shore, every wandering artist, administrator, Lunar Huntsman, and Shoreguard; the entire combined armory of the Shore was dwarfed by just two hallways in the Ministry of Sect Affairs. He'd never seen so many weapons before.

"Mind your step," Yoru warned, slowing their pace. "There aren't many Watchers here, and the serpents won't follow across the palace boundaries, but the traps here are far more common and more deadly."

"Any particular reason why that is?" Lin asked, but his voice surprised him with how haggard it was. The change was not lost on Yoru who turned immediately.

"The Ministry was where we handled all the requests and permits for every sect that operated within Lanyue," he explained. "Lots of secrets went through these halls, which is why we had more stable traps and defenses."

Lin nodded, noticing Yoru's eyes flash to his leg, then back to him. They exchanged a look, and Lin knew that Yoru was worried. Despite that, they both knew that they had to keep going.

"We'll have to go by way of the Throne Room, now," Yoru said, scratching his head. He turned and began walking ahead. "Duck now."

Lin did as he was told, and a click echoed through the hall. A flash of silver steel passed over his head, and from the shockwave of qi that washed over him, he was sure that the blow would have instantly beheaded him.

"The serpents would trigger some of these traps as easily as we do," he explained. "So, they don't come here. I can get us through almost all of them on the way to the throne room, but there is one…" he trailed off before shaking his head. "There's a reason I didn't want to go this way."

Lin thought he heard Yoru begin muttering under his breath. After a moment of listening, he could make out something like "shut up, shut up," and "he'll be fine."

Something was wrong with the moon artist. Lin noticed it as soon as they entered the palace. Every so often, he would look at a blank section of wall, as if something was there, but when Lin looked, there was nothing there. He knew that Yoru heard voices, but this seemed different. It was like he was hallucinating something and trying desperately to keep it together for Lin and Xinya's sake.

Still, worrying wouldn't solve the problem. Until they had the chance to rest, Yoru's sanity was filed under the same category as Lin's injury. He was still sharp in identifying the locations of traps, instructing them to duck or slip to the side every so often to avoid whatever trap he was about to trigger. So long as he could still guide them, they would continue pushing forward.

Their path continued like that for about an hour or so, which really gave Lin a firmer appreciation for the sheer size of the palace. This was the first structure he'd ever seen that had housed royalty, and he could see why Emperors referred to their palaces as cities. Yoru led them between administrative buildings, sometimes using the covered walkways of courtyards, and sometimes crossing entire streets. If this was all just a small corner of the Ministry of Sect Affairs, then Lin could only wonder how big the entire palace actually was.

Eventually, Yoru came to a stop. They were in the middle of a street lined with glowing silver roses that had grown wild after millennia without groundskeepers. However, covering the street itself in a glowing array with dozens of characters was another trap.

"This is a dream maze," Yoru explained. "The glowing part is just for show. It actually extends well into the grass and even into the buildings. If we don't go through this, then we'll have to take the main approach to reach the Throne Room, and that's probably one of the top ten most dangerous things we could do here."

"So, how do we get through the maze?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "It shouldn't be too different from a moon reaver's dreamscape, or the Labyrinth's clutches, so I should be able to break it from inside, but each person will see something different. We all have to cross it."

Yoru's eyes flicked to the side again, to a space where Lin could see nothing. After a moment, he shied closer to the wood artist, clearly made uneasy by whatever hallucinations were haunting him.

"So, we all go in, you break it, then drag us to the other side?" Lin offered. Yoru nodded.

"Something like that. Just…be careful of what you see. Nothing is real, but that doesn't mean it won't be convincing."

Lin nodded and knelt next to Xinya. Yoru was on her other side.

"Are you going to be okay going in?" he asked. "We could find a safer house for you and come back on our way out."

She shook her head. "I don't think there's any place safer than with you two. I'll be fine."

Turning her gaze back to the array, Xinya bit down on her knuckle. Lin pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I suppose, if it's a comfort, you probably made this trap, right?" he asked. Yoru nodded. "Well, we both know your array work is awful, so it should be easy to break."

Before he could lose his nerve, Lin stepped forward onto the glowing circle. It flashed with bright lights, then his entire vision turned green.

Wind blew gently through sunlit trees, carrying the smell of a crisp autumn on the wind. Nearby, Chiho was looping lazy circles in the air, trying to keep a trio of pink cherry petals in the air. They were out of season, with autumn fast approaching, but Lin figured that was just one of the wonders of the beautiful hairpin. It probably got the petals from a tree far away, and brought them here to play in the quiet, calm glade.

He took a deep breath of the air. This was a good place. The air, lacking the acidic undertone of void qi, was clear. It was warm, but the gentle breeze cut through the heat, bringing cool relief to the late summer atmosphere.

"This was a great idea," Yoru murmured sleepily. Lin looked down. Though he noted that he should have been surprised to find the moon artist relaxing with his head in Lin's lap, he wasn't. Yoru was completely relaxed, dressed in silver and spring green to match the season. He looked up at Lin with eyes that held a playful youth that drew a smile out of Lin immediately.

"Of course it was a great idea, I know nature," he answered.

"I know, I know, I don't get out enough." He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "It's nice to get away every so often, even if the others will scold me later."

"Let them. You can tell them I kidnapped you away from your illustrious duties," Lin joked.

"They'd believe it."

Yoru settled down and began to hum a gentle tune. Somehow, the melody seemed to match the cadence of the wind, and Lin rested his head back against the tree behind him. He let his eyes drift shut to just enjoy the perfectness of it all. The wind above him, the wood behind him, the earth below him, and his favorite person wrapping him in music.

This was a good day. Nothing could go wrong on this day. Everything was perfect, and Lin wished nothing more than for it to last forever.